Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Has $61.76 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.8% during the first quarter, now holding 399,345 shares valued at approximately $61.76 million.
• Insider trading is notable, with Director Kavitark Ram Shriram selling 18,566 shares and CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares recently, reflecting a 7.09% and 1.25% decrease in their respective holdings.
• Analysts have a generally positive outlook on the stock, with a consensus target price of $211.53 and several firms issuing "buy" ratings and raising price targets recently.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 399,345 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,609 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Westpark Capital raised their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $196.09 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

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